In 2010, Graphic Classics: Beowulf was published, adapted by Jacqueline Morley and artist Li Sidong. This adaptation is set up like an updated and extended version of Classic’s Illustrated and is part of a series of adaptations of titles such as Frankenstein and Hamlet. This is, in many ways, the most complete adaptation in comic format, likely because the series itself was designed for both entertainment and educational purposes. While not specifically a part of the adaptation, a positive for this version is the fact that several pages at the end are filled with text explaining the background to the poem and the culture of the people being described, as well as the potential relevance of the monsters found in the poem and an overview its various film adaptations.
The author sets up the story by creating a scop who is telling the tale to a group of men in a mead hall, starting with an abbreviated tale of Scyld Scefing and the ascension of Hrothgar to power, and then follows with the various battles between Beowulf and the monsters. Beowulf is illustrated as being slightly larger than the rest of his people, and Grendel and his mother a little more than twice his size. There is a good attention to detail, and while the digressions are not described in detail, there is an acknowledgment of their existence as the scop hints of things that would happen in the scenes that bridge the main conflicts. The sense of completeness of the adaptation is enhanced by the depiction of Beowulf’s burial and the idea that his treasure is burned and buried with him, a detail that is missing in most other versions.
The author sets up the story by creating a scop who is telling the tale to a group of men in a mead hall, starting with an abbreviated tale of Scyld Scefing and the ascension of Hrothgar to power, and then follows with the various battles between Beowulf and the monsters. Beowulf is illustrated as being slightly larger than the rest of his people, and Grendel and his mother a little more than twice his size. There is a good attention to detail, and while the digressions are not described in detail, there is an acknowledgment of their existence as the scop hints of things that would happen in the scenes that bridge the main conflicts. The sense of completeness of the adaptation is enhanced by the depiction of Beowulf’s burial and the idea that his treasure is burned and buried with him, a detail that is missing in most other versions.